Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
A stipulation is a legal contractual agreement between the Department of Children and Families [delegated to, and hereafter referred to, as the Bureau of Early Care Regulation (BECR)] and a licensee of a group or family child care center or day camp that sets forth specific and unique terms and conditions for granting or continuing licensure. A stipulation may establish additional conditions for licensure, beyond the licensure requirements contained in administrative rule. The purpose of a stipulation is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of children in care by defining required actions that must be taken by the licensee in the operation of a facility in accordance with Chapter 48, Wis. Stats., and Wisconsin Administrative Code.
The authority to execute a stipulation is provided under Chapter 48, Wis. Stats., and applicable Wisconsin Administrative Code, which directs BECR to license, inspect and regulate child care licensees to ensure compliance with the applicable statute and rule. Wis Stat. § 48.68(1) states that BECR shall investigate to determine whether a licensee meets minimum requirements for a license and may consider any action that constitutes substantial failure by the licensee to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of a child. Under Wis Stat. § 48.70, each license granted under Chapter 48 must state the name of the licensee and address of the facility, the maximum number of children in care, their age and sex, and additional information and special conditions as BECR may prescribe.
A stipulation is not an enforcement action subject to appeal as provided in Wis Stat. § 48.72. Rather, a stipulation establishes a contractual agreement between BECR and the licensee. It may specify BECR-imposed terms and conditions of licensure under which an applicant/licensee is permitted to hold a license. For example, a stipulation may impose additional supervision requirements due to a physical hazard on the premises. Another example would be a stipulation that prohibits a household member with a criminal history from being on the premises of a family child care center during licensed hours of operation.
A stipulation is often used to settle an enforcement action following an appeal. In most cases, without such an agreement, or in violation of the agreement, the enforcement action, including license denial or revocation, would prevail.
Depending on the circumstances, either the OLC attorney or the licensing specialist will draft the stipulation. In either case, the stipulation is always developed in consultation with the licensing manager/licensing supervisor. When the stipulation is being executed to outline an agreement between BECR and a licensee to resolve an appeal of an enforcement action, the stipulation is always drafted by the Office of Legal Council (OLC) and signed by the licensee, licensing manager/licensing supervisor and, if appropriate, the OLC attorney and/or the legal representative of the licensee. When a stipulation is executed by the licensing specialist and licensing manager/licensing supervisor to lay out conditions on the license but is unrelated to resolving a contested enforcement action, the stipulation is drafted by the licensing specialist, using the BECR standardized format and signed by the licensing manager/licensing supervisor and the licensee. The OLC attorney must also review these stipulations and make edits as needed prior to executing these arrangements. The procedures described in this chapter primarily concern the stipulations drafted by BECR.
The licensing specialist must consult with the licensing manager/licensing supervisor to determine whether a stipulation should be initiated in lieu of some other action such as an order to correct, denial or revocation of the license.
There are two standardized formats for stipulations; one is titled Stipulation and the other is titled License with Conditions Stipulation – Family Child Care/Foster Home. Both are found on the BECR Intranet. These standardized formats ensure that certain required contract clauses, as drafted and approved by OLC, are included in each stipulation, regardless of the specific and unique conditions set forth in the stipulation.
The stipulation may be sent certified mail, regular mail, electronic mail, or delivered in person. The stipulation is effective only if the applicant/licensee returns the signed copy to BECR within a specified number of days of the receipt of the stipulation, as spelled out in the stipulation, and is signed by a BECR representative. The specified number of days allowed for return of a signed stipulation usually does not exceed 10 days, and may be as few as three days. However, the standardized format for License with Conditions Stipulation – Family Child Care/Foster Home, provides a 30 day time frame for returning the agreement.
Posting requirements for a stipulation depends on the type of stipulation that is being executed. Stipulations that lay out conditions of licensure must be posted next to the license in an area visible to parents and the public. Stipulated settlement agreements that amend the original enforcement action itself are not conditions of licensure and are not posted.
In nearly all cases, the license certificate itself will indicate that a stipulation is in effect and refer to the stipulation with the statement “See Posted Stipulation dated mm/dd/yyyy”. In the case of a family child care/foster home stipulation, the license certificate will indicate “Family Child Care/Foster Home Stipulation dated mm/dd/yyyy”. In posting the stipulation beside the license, parents, other agencies and individuals that have a direct interest in the activities of the licensee can view the terms and conditions of the stipulation. Stipulations that are identified on the license certificate itself are also displayed in the Conditions Details section of the Regulated Child Care and YoungStar Public Search website. In the case of stipulations that resolve an appeal of an enforcement action, these stipulations are identified in the Conditions Details section and, for a three-year posting period, the Regulation Details section of the public search website.
This page last updated 10/2020.